By Emily Frazier

Art Show @ Pitt-Greensburg

Five advanced art students participated in an art show that took place at the Pitt-Greensburg campus library September 26-October 7. “Art Show @ Pitt-Greensburg” showcased many pieces by people of all ages from all over.

“Greensburg Salem submitted work on behalf of five of our current advanced students: Jasmine Kunkle, Lauren Mahkovic, Michelle Reynolds, Nico Wombacker and Rita Ruggieri,” art teacher Mr. Darryl Audia said.

All styles of art were accepted as long as they fell under the categories of painting, drawing, mixed media and digital or graphic art.

“I submitted two pieces of artwork, a scientific illustration of the state fossil, phacops rana and then my Drawing II final from last spring,” senior Lauren Mahkovic said. “We had to draw a collage, so I did a watercolor piece of a collage I did digitally.”

Mahkovic won third place in fan favorites.

“I was a little shocked, but definitely excited and happy,” she said.

Mahkovic received a gift bag containing many pieces of Pitt merchandise and gift cards.

The overall atmosphere was positive and the artists thrived as their works were on display.

“We kind of just walked around and looked at all the pieces,” senior Jasmine Kunkle said. “Everyone was really nice, and all the pieces were amazing.”

Socktober

Socktober is a national sock drive that benefits the homeless. The purpose is to provide new socks for the homeless as colder temperatures arrive.

“I ran into a YouTube video about Socktober when I worked in the middle school,” Mr. Audia said. “It was inspirational to me that we could make such a huge impact with a donation that was so small.”

At Greensburg Salem, the socks are donated then given to the Welcome Home shelter in downtown Greensburg. Welcome Home provides a temporary emergency shelter for displaced families and women. Each year they provide service to 250 women, children and men who are homeless.

At a young age, Mr. Audia suffered from some setbacks within his family. His parents divorced, which left his mom with financial issues as she tried to make her way back into the workforce. His father, though still very present in his life, was struggling with his mental health.

“Although I was never homeless, we did take advantage of the local foodbank and charitable clothing contributions from friends and our church to make ends meet,” he said. “The generosity of others during this time left a mark on me.”

The impact of such a small donation is grand.

“It is such a small price to pay to help a great cause,” he said. “Real human beings, no different from you or I, will directly benefit from your contribution.”

Socks should be donated in room 258.

“If everyone just donated one pair of socks, think about how much that could help the homeless in our own area,” Mr. Audia said.

Cultivations

Cultivations is an art show taking place at the Seton Hill University Harlan Gallery from October 20-November 18 for art educators and their students. Work by Mr. Audia, Mrs. Audia, Emily Frazier and Angelina Ranieri were expected to be seen in the show.

Both Mr. And Mrs. Audia submitted nonobjective abstract pieces. Mrs. Audia submitted a mixed media assemblage made of found wood, paper and melted wax and Mr. Audia submitted a painting done with oil and acrylic on canvas.

“We also each chose a student work to represent GS,” Mr. Audia said. “Mrs. Audia chose a beautiful ceramic tea set by senior Angelina Raneri, and I chose a captivating painting of dilapidated row houses by senior Emily Frazier.”

It was not required that the pieces between the teacher and their student correlate, but there were some connections.

“I think Mrs. Audia’s minimal and neutralized color palette goes well with Angelina’s glaze choices, and I equally think my overtly saturated vibrant color palette works well in conjunction with the color choices made by Emily,” he said.

The night ended with two wins. Frazier’s piece won best show in 2D, and Raneri’s set won best show in 3D. The gallery will be open until November 18.

“We wanted to focus on work that wasn’t just attractive and well crafted, but also had an obvious infusion of personal creativity on the part of the student artists,” he said.

National Art Honor Society

It’s not too late to join the National Art Honor Society. Sponsored by art teacher Mrs. Kelley Audia, NAHS is open for students who have taken a high school art class and have maintained a grade of A throughout.

“[The point of NAHS is to] give our students more ways to share and sell their work,” Mr. Audia said.

NAHS takes part in many events like the FCCLA Halloween Bash that just happened and other school-related activities. They can be seen painting faces or selling their creations and goods for the Artist Market.

“One of these opportunities will be the artist market pop-ups that will be in the library,” he said. “There will more than likely be a holiday sale coming up soon.”